THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK RESPONDENT v. CHRISTOPHER YOUNG DEFENDANT APPELLANT (2016)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Appeal, by permission of a Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial Department, from an order of the Supreme Court, Monroe County (Francis A. Affronti, J.), dated May 13, 2013.  The order denied the motion of defendant to set aside his sentence pursuant to CPL 440.20.

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum:  Defendant appeals from an order denying his motion to set aside his sentence pursuant to CPL 440.20, contending that he was improperly sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment for the intentional murder of two victims because the People failed to prove at trial that the victims were killed by separate bullets.  The proof at trial tends to support defendant's contention that he fired only three bullets in the fatal interaction, and that the first victim, the owner of the store where the murders occurred, was struck by all three bullets.  It also appears that the second victim, a young woman standing behind the owner, was struck by one of the bullets that also struck the owner.  The record does not conclusively establish, however, that the single bullet that was fatal to the young woman, which was from the first shot taken by defendant, was also fatal to the owner.  Indeed, a witness who was present in the store at the time of the shooting testified that the first shot struck the young woman, and that defendant thereafter moved toward the owner and fired two more shots at him, seemingly indicating that defendant did not believe that his first shot was fatal to the owner.

Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court